There is no doubt that Carrie Fisher is famous for playing Princess Leia. In "Return of the Jedi, " the "Star Wars" actress donned an all-gold outfit that impressed audiences, especially Fisher herself. Here are seven facts you didn't know about the gold bikini in Star Wars , because there's a lot going on behind the scenes when it comes to that particular costume, if you will.
The gold bikini was made entirely of metal and, as Fisher has said many times, was not comfortable at all. Of course, you can probably imagine this just by seeing it on the screen. Plus, it's small. Like, very small.
So why is she wearing this bikini? This actually involves some history. According to Starwars.com, since the 1960s, space movies have featured strong female characters wearing bikinis, such as Jane Fonda in "Barbarella." Princess Leia may be playing a prisoner in the movie, but she's proof that characters and real-life women can finally break free of metaphorical chains and shed their "silly clothes."
1. Bikini sells for $96,000
According to People magazine, the costume was auctioned back in October for nearly $100,000.
2. Uncomfortable
Fisher talks about having to constantly check your wardrobe for glitches and having to sit down somehow to keep everything in its place. "I have to sit very straight because I can't have lines on my sides, like little creases. No creases are allowed, so I have to sit very straight," she said in an interview with NPR.
3. Fisher didn’t choose the outfit
Of course, Fisher doesn't have to be consulted on wardrobe choices. Here's what she had to say about the iconic scene: "I got to be with slugs with big tongues! Being almost naked, that's not my style choice... It's not my choice. When (director George Lucas) showed I put the outfit on and I thought he was joking and it made me really nervous," she told NPR.
4. Gold bikinis allow access to space
Vanity Fair noted that in her memoir, " Wishful Drinking," Fisher recalled a time when she was told she couldn't wear a bra under a white dress because "there's no underwear in space." So, the fact that they let gold bikinis into the movie proves that there are indeed gold bikinis in space. Bet you don't know that guy!
5. History influences clothing
As I mentioned before, Princess Leia isn't the first badass to wear a bikini in a sci-fi movie. Starwars.com lists several examples of this happening in movies and comic books, such as Flash Gordon .
6. Aggie Guerard Rodgers and Nilo Rodis-Jamero designed bikinis
The Hollywood Reporter noted that Aggie Gaillard Rogers and Nilo Rodis Jamero designed the bikini with inspiration from fantasy artist Frank Frazetta.
7. Fisher turned the bikini into a feminist statement
Heavy.com noted that Fisher was fine with the gold bikini, though. She turned it into a feminist statement in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, saying, "The father who was furious about this, 'I'm going to tell my kid why is she wearing that dress?'" Tell them, A giant slug grabbed me and forced me to put on that stupid outfit, and then I killed him because I didn't like it, and then I took it off backstage. "
Fisher realized that Star Wars was just a vehicle for her to express her ideas. This role is just the beginning.
"You can play Leia as capable, independent, wise, a soldier, a fighter, a woman in control - of course, the word control is secondary to the word master. But you can play a woman who is a master, and by all women If you make her travel in time, if you add a magical quality, if you treat it in fairy tale terms, that creates a bias," she told Rolling Stone .
Then she also became a modern master in real life in her own way.
